Origen of Alexandria — Commentary on Scripture

1 Thessalonians 1:1

Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Two made a symphony, Paul and Sosthenes, when writing the first epistle to the Corinthians. After this Paul and Timothy sang in harmony when they wrote their second letter to the same church. And even three made a symphony when Paul and Silvanus and Timothy gave instruction by letter to the Thessalonians.

1 Thessalonians 2:7

But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children:

But another might say that the perfect man is here called little, applying the word, “For he that is least among you all, the same is great.” He will affirm that he who humbles himself and becomes a child in the midst of all that believe, though he be an apostle or a bishop, and becomes such “as when a nurse cherishes her own children,” is the little one pointed out by Jesus. He will also affirm that the angel of such a person is worthy to behold the face of God. The little are here called perfect, according to the passage “He that is least among you all, the same is great.” Paul said, “Unto me who am less than the least of all saints was this grace given.” These are in harmony with the saying, “Whoever shall cause one of these little ones to stumble,” and “So it is not the will of my Father in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.”

1 Thessalonians 2:14

For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews:

“But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country.” We must inquire whether the expression has the same force when applied universally to every prophet (as if all prophets are dishonored in their own country). Or, it may be the case that because the expression “a prophet” is in the singular, these things were said only about one. If, then, these words are spoken about one person, these things which have been said suffice, if we refer that which was written to the Savior. But if it is a general principle in view, it is not historically true; for Elijah was not dishonored in Tishbeth of Gilead, nor Elisha in Abelmeholah, nor Samuel in Ramathaim, nor Jeremiah in Anathoth. But figuratively interpreted, it is absolutely true; for we must think of Judea as their country and Israel as their kindred and perhaps of the body as the house. For all suffered dishonor in Judea from the Israel which is according to the flesh, while they were yet in the body. Thus it is written in the Acts of the Apostles, as Stephen censured the people, “Which of the prophets did no…

“But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country.” We must inquire whether the expression has the same force when applied universally to every prophet (as if all prophets are dishonored in their own country). Or, it may be the case that because the expression “a prophet” is in the singular, these things were said only about one. If, then, these words are spoken about one person, these things which have been said suffice, if we refer that which was written to the Savior. But if it is a general principle in view, it is not historically true; for Elijah was not dishonored in Tishbeth of Gilead, nor Elisha in Abelmeholah, nor Samuel in Ramathaim, nor Jeremiah in Anathoth. But figuratively interpreted, it is absolutely true; for we must think of Judea as their country and Israel as their kindred and perhaps of the body as the house. For all suffered dishonor in Judea from the Israel which is according to the flesh, while they were yet in the body. Thus it is written in the Acts of the Apostles, as Stephen censured the people, “Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute, who appeared before of the coming of the Righteous One?” And Paul says similar things in his first letter to the Thessalonians: “For you brethren became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judaea in Christ Jesus, for you also suffered the same things of your own countrymen even as they did of the Jews, who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and please not God, and are contrary to all men.”

1 Thessalonians 4:16

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

We think that those who have been perfected and who no longer commit sin are alive in Christ. The dead in Christ are those who are favorably disposed to the Christian faith and who prefer to live a good life but who have not, in fact, actually succeeded, but still sin, either in ignorance of the accurate true word of justice or in weakness, because their decisions are overcome by the flesh, which lusts against the spirit. And it is in conformity with these matters that Paul, conscious of himself, says, because he has already succeeded, “We who are alive.” But those whom we spoke of as dead have special need of the resurrection, since not even those who are alive can be taken up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air before the dead in Christ first rise. This is why it has been written, “The dead in Christ shall rise first, then we who are alive,” etc.

1 Thessalonians 5:5

Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

If you wish to see Jesus transfigured before those who went up on the mountain with him, behold with me the Jesus in the Gospels as more simply understood. This is Jesus, as one might say, known “according to the flesh” by those who do not go up through uplifting words and works to the holy mountain of wisdom. Behold him with me as known in his divinity by means of all of the Gospels, beheld in the form of God according to the knowledge that his companions had. For before them Jesus is transfigured, but not to any of those who are below. But when he is transfigured, his face also shines as the sun, so that he may be manifested to the children of light. These have put off the works of darkness and have put on the armor of light and are no longer the children of darkness or night, but have become sons of the day and walk honestly as in the day. Being manifested, he will shine for them not only as the sun, but as the son of righteousness.

1 Thessalonians 5:8

But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

But if we must also examine the statement, “And it was night,” so that it has not been interjected to no purpose by the Evangelist, we must say that the perceptible night at that time was symbolic, an image of the night that was in Judas’s soul when Satan, the darkness that lies over the abyss, entered him. “For God called the darkness night,” of which night, indeed, Paul says we are not children, nor of darkness, when he says, “Therefore, brothers, we are not of the night, nor of darkness,” and, “But let us who are of the day be sober.”

1 Thessalonians 5:23 · 2 passages

And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In another way, it is possible to take the woman for the church, the leaven for the Holy Spirit and the three measures for body, spirit and soul. These three are sanctified by the leaven of the Holy Spirit, so that by the Holy Spirit they become one lump, in order that “our whole body and spirit and soul may be kept blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ,” as Paul says.

In the wicked sin reigns over the soul, being settled as on its own throne in the mortal body, so that the soul obeys its lusts … but in the case of those who have become perfected, the spirit has gained the mastery and put to death the deeds of the body. It imparts to the body of its own life and there arises a concord of the two, body and spirit, on the earth.… But still more blessed is it if the three [i.e., body, soul and spirit] be gathered together in the name of Jesus, that this may be fulfilled, “May God sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

1 Timothy 1:4

Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.

Moreover, the commandment, “Do not bear a burden on the sabbath day,” seems to me impossible. For by these words the Jewish teachers have fallen into “endless fables,” as the apostle says, by saying that it is not reckoned a “burden” if someone has shoes without nails, but that it is a “burden” if someone has gallic shoes with nails. And if someone carries something on one shoulder, they judge it a “burden,” but if he carries it on both shoulders, they will deny it is a burden.

1 Timothy 1:9

Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,

If they who are weak and incapable of the deeper mystery are edified by the letter, let them understand that if “anyone neglects the teachings of the Lord and lies to his neighbor over a deposit, or by a partnership, or by robbery, he is declared guilty of a great sin. But let this be absent from the church of God.… For I say boldly concerning you that “you did not so learn Christ” nor “were you so taught.” Besides, the law itself does not teach these things to the saints and the faithful. Do you want to know that these are not said about the saints and the faithful? Hear the apostle when he distinguishes between them, “The law was not laid down for the just but for the unjust and for those not subject, for the wicked and the impure, for the father-killers and for the mother-killers,” and for those similar to these. Because, therefore, for such men as this the apostle says, “the law was imposed,” the church of God, having left behind the letter, is built up to greater holiness by the spirit, since heaven forbid that it would ever be polluted with such misdeeds.

1 Timothy 1:15

This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

Moreover, Paul says in the epistle to Timothy, even though he himself had later become an apostle of Jesus, “this is a faithful saying, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” For some unknown reason he [Celsus] forgot or did not think of saying anything about Paul, who after Jesus established the churches in Christ.… Why then is it outrageous if Jesus, wanting to show mankind the extent of his ability to heal souls, chose infamous and most wicked men and led them on so far that they were an example of the purest moral character to those who were converted by them to the gospel of Christ?

1 Timothy 2:1

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;

I think that supplication is a prayer offered with a special request for something a person lacks. From this is distinguished prayer which is more plainly offered with simple praise, not to obtain a request but simply to praise the nobility of great things. And I think that intercession is a petition for certain things addressed to God by someone who has some greater boldness, while thanksgiving is a statement of gratitude made with prayers for receiving good things from God, either when it is a great thing that is received and acknowledged with gratitude or when the greatness of the benefit is apparent only to the one who has benefited. ON PRAYER 14.2.Ambrosiaster: “Supplications” are on behalf of secular rulers, that they may have obedient subjects, and thus peace and tranquillity. “Prayers” are for those to whom power has been entrusted, that they may govern with justice and truth, so that all may prosper. “Intercessions” are for those in dire necessity, that they may find help. And “thanksgivings” refer to gratitude for God’s daily providences. Commentary on the First Letter to T…

I think that supplication is a prayer offered with a special request for something a person lacks. From this is distinguished prayer which is more plainly offered with simple praise, not to obtain a request but simply to praise the nobility of great things. And I think that intercession is a petition for certain things addressed to God by someone who has some greater boldness, while thanksgiving is a statement of gratitude made with prayers for receiving good things from God, either when it is a great thing that is received and acknowledged with gratitude or when the greatness of the benefit is apparent only to the one who has benefited. ON PRAYER 14.2.Ambrosiaster: “Supplications” are on behalf of secular rulers, that they may have obedient subjects, and thus peace and tranquillity. “Prayers” are for those to whom power has been entrusted, that they may govern with justice and truth, so that all may prosper. “Intercessions” are for those in dire necessity, that they may find help. And “thanksgivings” refer to gratitude for God’s daily providences. Commentary on the First Letter to Timothy.
Theodore of Mopsuestia: Here supplications express the desire for good things from God. Prayers express the desire to be released from various evils. Intercessions ask for freedom from undeserved consequences. And thanksgivings express gratitude for blessings. Commentary on 1 Timothy.
Augustine: I prefer to understand by these words what the entire, or almost the entire, church observes: that we take as supplications those prayers which are said in celebrating the mysteries, before we begin to consecrate what lies on the table of the Lord. Prayers are said when it is blessed and sanctified and broken for distribution; and the whole church, for the most part, closes this complete petition with the Lord’s Prayer. The original Greek word helps us to understand this distinction: the Scripture seldom uses the word euche in the sense of oratio, but generally and much more frequently euchē means votum; whereas proseuchē,the word used in the passage we are treating, is always rendered by oratio.… Now, all the things which are offered to God are vowed, especially the oblation at the holy altar, for in this sacrament we show forth that supreme offering, by which we vow to abide in Christ, even to the union of the body of Christ. The outward sign of this is that “we, being many, are one bread, one body.” Consequently, I think that at this consecration and this preparation for Communion the apostle fittingly wishes that proseuchas, that is, prayers, should be made, or, as some have unskillfully rendered it, adoration, that is, what takes place at the offering, although this is more commonly expressed in Scripture by euchē. Intercessions, however, or, as your texts have it, requests, are offered while the blessing is being given to the people, for at that time, by the laying on of hands, the bishops, as intercessors, offer the members of their flock to the most merciful Power. When this is completed and all have received the holy sacrament, the whole is ended by thanksgiving, and this last is the very term called to our notice by the apostle. LETTERS 149.2.16.
John Cassian: “Supplication’ is a beseeching or petition for sins.… “Prayers” are those by which we offer a vow to God.… “Intercession” is customarily offered, in moments of fervor, for other men and women—our family, the peace of the world. To use St. Paul’s words, we pray “for all men, for kings and all in authority.” … “Thanksgiving” is when the mind recollects what God has done or is doing or looks forward to the good which he has prepared for those who love him, and so offers its gratitude in an indescribable transport of spirit. Sometimes it offers still deeper prayers of this sort; when the soul contemplates in singleness of heart the reward of the saints and so is moved in its happiness to pour forth a wordless thanksgiving.

1 Timothy 2:2

For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

Then Celsus next exhorts us to help the emperor with all our power, and cooperate with him in all that is right, and fight for him, and be fellow soldiers if he presses for this, and fellow generals with him. We may reply to this that at appropriate times we render to the emperors divine help, if I may so say, by taking up even the whole armor of God. And this we do in obedience to the apostolic utterance which says, “I exhort you, therefore, first to make prayers, supplications, intercessions and thanksgivings for all men, for emperors, and all that are in authority.” Indeed, the more pious a man is, the more effective he is in helping the emperors—more so than the soldiers who go out into the lines and kill all the enemy troops that they can.

1 Timothy 2:4

Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

Therefore, because God is merciful and “wishes all men to be saved,” he says, “I will visit their crimes with an iron rod and their sins with whips. I will not, however, remove my mercy from them.” … For “God is jealous” and does not wish that soul which he betrothed to himself in faith to remain in the defilement of sin, but wishes it immediately to be purified, wishes it swiftly to cast out all its impurities, if it has by chance been snatched away to some.

1 Timothy 2:5

For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

Through his body the church has been allied to Christ and has been enabled to become a partaker in the Word of God. We know this both from the fact that he is called the “mediator of God and humanity,” and from the apostle’s saying that “in him we have access through faith in the hope of the glory of God.”

1 Timothy 2:7

Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.

The apostle Paul, “teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth,” taught the church which he gathered from the Gentiles how it ought to interpret the books of the law. These books were received from others and were formerly unknown to the Gentiles and were very strange. He feared that the church, receiving foreign instructions and not knowing the principle of the instructions, would be in a state of confusion about the foreign document. For that reason he gives some examples of interpretation that we might also note similar things in other passages, lest we believe that by imitation of the text and document of the Jews we be made disciples. He wishes, therefore, to distinguish disciples of Christ from disciples of the synagogue by the way they understand the law.

1 Timothy 2:8

I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

Now concerning the place, let it be known that every place is suitable for prayer if a person prays well. For “in every place you offer incense to me … says the Lord” and “I desire then that in every place men should pray,” But everyone may have, if I may put it this way, a holy place set aside and chosen in his own house, if possible, for accomplishing his prayers in quiet and without distraction.

1 Timothy 2:13

For Adam was first formed, then Eve.

But you should not be surprised that she [the church] who is gathered out of the dispersion of the nations and prepared to be the bride of Christ has sometimes been guilty of these faults. Remember how the first woman was seduced and was in the transgression and could find her salvation, so the Scripture says, only in bearing children, which for our present purpose means those who continue in faith and love with sanctity. The apostle, therefore, declares what is written about Adam and Eve thus, “This is a great mystery in Christ and in the church.” Christ so loved her that he gave himself for her, while she was yet undutiful, even as he says, “When as yet we were ungodly according to the time, Christ died for us”; and again, “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

1 Timothy 2:15

Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.

The present book of Scripture, then, speaks of this love with which the blessed soul burns and is on fire with regard to the blessed Word of God. And she sings this wedding song through the Spirit, by which the church is joined and united with its heavenly bridegroom Christ, desiring to be mingled with him through the Word so that she may conceive from him and be enabled to be saved through this chaste bearing of children.

1 Timothy 3:7

Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

Therefore let us see by what order the high priest is appointed. It says, “Moses called together the congregation and said to them, ‘This is the Word that the Lord commanded.’ ” Although the Lord had given them commands about appointing the high priest and had made his choice, the congregation was still called together. For in ordaining a priest, the presence of the people is also required that all may know and be certain that from all the people one is chosen for the priesthood who is more excellent, who is more wise, who is more holy, who is more eminent in every virtue, lest afterwards, when he stands before the people, any hesitation or any doubt should remain. This is also what the apostle taught when he spoke about the ordination of a priest: “It is necessary to have a good witness from those who are outside.”